CONSUMER ACCEPTANCE OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS



indifference between the GM and non-GM foods is unlikely to induce the consumer’s
willingness to buy GM foods.

Our results also show that the consumer WTP for non-GM foods varies among
demographic characteristics. Specifically, female respondents, those aged between 35 and 60,
and non-White respondents are willing to pay a higher premium for non-GM foods than other
groups. This finding is useful to the government, food industry and consumer groups for
designing appropriate programs to educate the consumer about GMOs and GM foods targeted to
different demographic groups.

Conclusions

In this study, we attempt to investigate consumer attitudes toward GM foods and to elicit
WTP for non-GM foods. The empirical results indicate that the consumer acceptance toward GM
foods is affected by attitudinal factors, such as risk perception, environmental impacts, opinion
on GM food labeling, perceived difference between GM and non-GM foods, and the potential
benefits of GM foods. Among all, the high risk associated with GM foods as perceived by the
respondents is found to be the main hindrance to the consumer’s acceptance of such foods, which
reinforces the necessity to educate the general public to be more aware of GM foods with more
unbiased scientific information. Also, the result points to the importance of GM food labeling,
implying the need to provide the consumer with more information on GM foods so that the
consumer confidence can be established. Moreover, the price factor is significant in determining
consuming GM foods, suggesting that lower price can be a useful tool to stimulate GM food
consumption.

The results of WTP indicate that the survey respondents are willing to pay a premium in
order to differentiate between GM and non-GM foods. This implies that producers of non-GM

17



More intriguing information

1. Long-Term Capital Movements
2. Life is an Adventure! An agent-based reconciliation of narrative and scientific worldviews
3. Dendritic Inhibition Enhances Neural Coding Properties
4. The name is absent
5. Growth and Technological Leadership in US Industries: A Spatial Econometric Analysis at the State Level, 1963-1997
6. Howard Gardner : the myth of Multiple Intelligences
7. ALTERNATIVE TRADE POLICIES
8. The name is absent
9. The name is absent
10. The name is absent
11. Crime as a Social Cost of Poverty and Inequality: A Review Focusing on Developing Countries
12. The name is absent
13. Staying on the Dole
14. Altruism with Social Roots: An Emerging Literature
15. The name is absent
16. Computing optimal sampling designs for two-stage studies
17. The name is absent
18. ESTIMATION OF EFFICIENT REGRESSION MODELS FOR APPLIED AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS RESEARCH
19. THE DIGITAL DIVIDE: COMPUTER USE, BASIC SKILLS AND EMPLOYMENT
20. The name is absent